Crown Prince Carver Baritas.
Since his coming of age, he has not shown his face at any public events. it was heard that when he was young, he had a very different personality than he was now.
Such a person had now come to the Duke of Prinz.
“I don’t know what you mean……. I’ve ordered you to prepare seats, so I’ll escort you inside first.”
Theo swallowed hard and flashed an awkward smile, trying to break the ice.
“Do you really think I came all this way just to have a cup of tea with you?”
“Then…… dare I ask what you came for?”
The crown prince laughed mockingly. There was only one reason he was here. It was for Riley.
From the way the Duke was acting, he didn’t even seem to know that she had filed for divorce. The crown prince tilted his head and looked at the duke.
There was no sign of Riley; she had already left.
He wondered if that was a good thing, what her face would have looked like if she had seen him. For a moment, he remembered her face as a child, but then he shook his head.
He wondered if he could see her smiling face again.
He mocked himself for thinking it was ridiculous.
He should have recognised it when he received the letter, which only gave a date and time……. As if Ren had anticipated everything, he had no intention of allowing him and Riley even a brief meeting.
It had taken him a while, but he’d been running back and forth trying to spin everything in Riley’s favour.
‘Ren, you bastard……. He must have dumped this on me.’
Carver clicked his tongue inwardly and narrowed his brow.
“So, who do you think you are, and how dare you question me?”
Theo’s fists clenched and unclenched as the crown prince looked down at him with mockery.
“……I apologise.”
It was an insult he’d never felt before. A brief click of tongue escaped the crown prince’s mouth as he lowered his head.
“Tsk.”
With a guy like that around, who the hell are you…….
The crown prince didn’t want to waste any more time. Seeing the duke prostrate in front of him made him feel even worse.
How could his head, which bent so easily, be as straight as a tree that would not break for her? She could just imagine the look on his face when he lifted his head, eyes downcast, and saw Riley.
Theo’s breath caught in his throat. Could he really be here for Riley? She’d been discarded by the imperial court, by her family, by her lack of ability.
“What the hell…… is Riley?
To him, she was just an abandoned princess of House Trayla, the next in line for the throne. Beautiful, yes, but nothing else.
That’s what everyone thought of her.
But Carver was different. He couldn’t be sure, but it was clear that he felt differently about Riley.
He felt a shiver run down his spine as the crown prince’s gaze continued to study him intently.
“Here, sign it.”
The crown prince held out a crumpled, unreadable document to Theo. It was a confirmation of divorce petition, blank only for the other party’s signature.
Riley’s signature was already there, and the divorce would be finalised if only Theo would accept it.
“Your Majesty, I have no intention of divorcing my wife, and I don’t see why I should-“
“Enough.”
Carver held up a hand, stopping Theo in his tracks. His face, which had been smiling one moment, crumpled.
“I’m giving you a chance to live. From now on, you’re going to have to think before you speak.”
Carver took a step toward Theo, his mouth tightly closed, pent-up emotion glinting in his eyes.
Ugly emotions like resentment, embarrassment, and crushed pride.
Carver placed a hand on Theo’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.
Hmph, Theo’s body shuddered again. he glanced at the hand on his shoulder, trying to look unaffected.
“Has Riley ever rested her head on this shoulder, or have you ever lent your shoulder to her?”
“……What are you talking about all of a sudden.”
“Yes, at least once.”
Theo didn’t answer, but the corner of his mouth twitched up as he thought of a response.
Yuck.
“Ew, ew!”
Theo screamed with a dull thud. Carver’s hand had shattered one of Theo’s shoulder blades.
His face contorted in pain, Theo wrapped his arms around his shoulders and slumped to the ground.
“I told you to think before you speak.”
“Well, Your Majesty, this is an outrageous act! How can the soon-to-be Emperor do this…… ugh, act without telling us why!”
Theo’s voice cracked through his clenched lips. A soft groan of pain escaped him.
“That’s not the answer I want either.”
Carver watched Theo writhing in pain, then leaned down slightly to meet his gaze.
“Above all, it is not for someone like you to comment on the qualities of the Emperor.”
With a dark smile, Carver patted the back of Theo’s hand that held his broken shoulder blade. He gripped Theo’s clenched hand and pulled it loose.
“Ewww, why the hell would you do that to me!”
“Did you stroke her face, touch her body with these dirty hands?”
“Oh, no!”
Theo denied, shaking his head at the ominous sensation. But the carver would not let go of his grasp.
“How dare you lie to me, the crown prince.”
He had already sent someone to inspect the ducal residence. There was no way he didn’t know all the facts from his communications with Ren.
An evil grin spread across Carver’s face. Theo, his face expressionless, tried to pull his hand away, but it was no use.
Woodchuck.
Another crushing sound and Theo’s body twisted.
“Ouch!”
There was no more screaming. Theo was in so much pain it didn’t even seem real.
“Sign.”
A low, acidic voice rang out. As Theo beat his head against the floor, groaning and struggling, Carver held out the papers again.
“Your Highness.”
Stepping out of the carriage, Harvard’s eyes widened at the scene before him. He pushed his glasses up once and sighed.
The aide had followed the crown prince, just in case, but had decided to stay behind and watch from the carriage, trusting in Carver’s vow not to kill, no matter how angry he was.
“Didn’t I tell you that you are not supposed to kill people, no matter how angry you are?”
“Come on, Harvard. You’ll get the wrong idea.”
He hasn’t killed him yet.
Harvard shook his head as the crown prince answered confidently. He looked at Theo, who hadn’t moved and touched him.
He was unconscious. Carver’s face froze as he looked at the papers in his hand.
“Wake him up, fix him, or get him to come to his senses.”
“My powers are not for healing garbage.”
Harvard said firmly. Carver shook his head, wordlessly commanding.
“If we need his signature, we don’t need to heal him.”
Harvard leaned down and pressed the pen into Theo’s hand. Then, holding it, he scribbled Theo’s name on the signature line and looked up at the crown prince.
Theo’s name was written in a clumsy but clear handwriting.
“Isn’t this the way to do it?”
“It’s a fake. Wake him up again, because there’s no one here to prove it.”
“Why not, Your Majesty, we have a witness who can prove it better than anyone else.”
Harvard rose from his seat and, after fixing Theo to a seemingly unharmed state, shuffled off and headed for the ducal residence. Smiling broadly, he stepped inside and soon emerged with a stack of papers in his hand.
“This will be enough for a witness, won’t it?”
With that, there was no one left to believe Theo.
* * *
Rattle-.
“Do you mind if we put up a wallpaper in front of this?”
It was the guard. Instead of saying no, Riley nodded.
“Oh, wait!
She suddenly remembered the paper she had taped to the wall. She rushed out the door and said to the guard.
“Here, stick it up here, I need to see this paper.”
She even told me where to place it so that the words “employee emergency exit” would be obscured.
“Yes, sir.”
The guards stuck the wallpaper where Riley said.
“But what wallpaper?
She shook her head as she tried to peer through the wallpaper in curiosity. Obviously, they’re looking for criminals again.
“Still, they’ve been posting a lot lately.”
Riley had been here for a month now. In that time, there’s always something going on downtown.
“It’s cold. Let’s go inside.”
The wind blew in and gave her a chill. She closed the door behind her and glanced at her watch.
“Ren should be home soon.”
Riley laid out the jewellery, examining the new arrivals. There was a particularly striking red ruby that looked beautiful.
“This will look good on Ren.”
She was thinking of making him a pendant. The red colour seemed to work quite well. She was sure he’d give her a slap on the wrist for giving him another thing to sell, but she didn’t care.
She picked up the ruby with tweezers and carefully set it down. That’s when her scarf slipped loose and fell to the floor.
Riley bent down and picked it up. Tsk, tsk, tsk, she dusted it off and tried to tie it back around her neck.
A rattle.
“Ren?”
“…….”
There were no words.
Looking in the mirror, Riley re-tied her scarf and straightened her hair before turning her head towards the door.
“……Riley?”
The man standing there calling her name was the first person she’d ever seen.
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